KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia turned lower at the midday break amid a regional downtrend.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dipped 1.0 point to 1,441.51 from Wednesday's closing of 1,442.51.
The benchmark index opened 0.52 of a point higher at 1,443.03, and moved between 1,438.80 and 1,445.14 during the session.
On the broader market, decliners beat gainers 428 to 260 while 401 counters were unchanged, 1,285 untraded and 17 suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.79 billion units worth RM825.31 million.
Most Asian markets were in the red with the Hang Seng Index 1.55 per cent weaker at 16,990.86 and the Nikkei 225 slumping 1.94 per cent to 30,661.96 while the Straits Times Index dropped 0.42 per cent to 3,065.81.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said Wall Street fell overnight following the earnings disappointment from Alphabet, coupled with the US 10-year Treasury yield heading toward its previous high.
"(This) may also dampen the demand for equities as investors are pricing in a higher-for-longer interest rate environment. Besides, the uncertainty in the Middle East may persist as Israel intensified its overnight bombing of southern Gaza while Brent oil spiked above US$90 per barrel," it said in a note today.
On the local bourse, the brokerage also expects selling pressure to pick up in the technology sector following the sharp selldown on Wall Street. "Besides that, traders may position into the energy sector following the spike in the Brent oil price amid the prolonged Middle East tension."
Among Bursa heavyweight counters, Maybank was unchanged at RM9.00, Public Bank gained two sen to RM4.18 while CIMB, Petronas, and Tenaga Nasional shed one sen each to RM5.68, RM7.24, and RM9.87, respectively.
Of the actives, CSH Alliance, Leform, and Meta Bright improved half-a-sen each to 6.5 sen, 24.5 sen, and 26 sen, respectively.
Kanger put on 1.5 sen to 14 sen while Widad dropped one sen to 46.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 6.36 points to 10,631.96, the FBMT 100 Index slid 6.55 points to 10,307.41 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened by 22.40 points to 10,841.08.
The FBM ACE Index decreased 11.27 points to 5,056.21 and the FBM 70 Index slid 6.39 points to 14,012.07.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.26 of a point lower at 172.12, the Plantation Index went down 15.10 points to 6,867.48, and the Energy Index slipped 0.76 points to 871.27.
The Financial Services Index climbed 18.88 points to 16,255.06.
